Baghdad-born Tory MP Nadhim Zadawi has become the media poster boy for British opposition to Trump’s egregious immigration freeze, which May has eventually been forced into opposing against all her profound anti-immigrant instincts. Actually, if I ran a country I would be sorely tempted to ban Zadawi from it too. Founder of blatant Tory push-polling organisation YouGove (sic), the creep charged the taxpayer massively for MP’s expenses including thousands of pounds for heated stables at his second home. Being stinking rich and having children at Princeton is the media’s idea of the sort of person who ought not be banned. I suspect there are more deserving cases.

The stinking rich part is apposite because the world’s biggest sponsors of Islamic terrorism are stinking rich, and are strangely not included in the Trump freeze. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States are yet again excluded from “action against Islamic terrorism” despite being patently the fons et origo of most of it. Trump’s ban would not exclude Osama Bin Laden or the vast majority of the 9/11 cells, which is almost amusing. The reasons for this do not relate solely to the integration of the wealth of the parasitic Gulf State elite with the wealth of the Western elite and banking system. It also relates, as I explained in my talk on the Middle East on Friday, to official American policy to actually promote Saudi backed terrorist jihadi groups against Iranian-backed mainly Shiite interests in the Middle East.

I am not advocating the ban or extending the ban, but it is also worth pointing out that nearly all the recent Islamic terrorist activities against Western, including Turkish, targets were carried out by people from either Tunisia or Central Asia. Those countries are not included either. So plainly the ban or freeze is not really intended to do what it says on the tin. It should be repeated always that the risk from Islamic terrorism to individuals in the West is extremely small, and has always been well less than 1% of the risk of being killed in a road accident.

The most disgraceful aspect of the ban is the notion that it does not apply to religious minority groups in the named countries, such as Christians, Yazidis and Jews. All the countries named are majority Muslim, so in effect it imposes a religious test. It is a ban plainly targeted by religion and not by nationality, and if the US court system had any integrity would be struck down on that basis. This is reinforced by the fact that other non-religious minorities facing persecution, such as gays, are not excluded from the ban.

Trump has certainly startled the Establishment by the extremely unusual expedient of attempting swiftly to carry out his campaign promises. I was among the many who hoped he would forget some of the crazier ones. Apparently not. But his electoral base will be delighted.

Push away, lose away. Corbyn has lost the plot, Labour has lost it’s way, the times they-are-a-changin’. There is no room in this Type Zero Global Civilisation for yesterday’s politicians, for brittle minds.

To my simple political mind that puts Corbyn in the Hillary camp. You couldn’t make it up. The man who is trying to outflank the neo-con legacy of Bliar, and who has no more right to interfere with US politics that Trump has to interfere with his, backs the neo-con sour grapes faux feminists and masqueraders of Muslim rights.

I thought Corbyn was supposed to be a man of integrity and independence of thought, not the puppet of a well-crafted wind-up merchant.

@ giyane January 29, 2017 at 22:52
Simple political mind, well, you said it. Being against Trump’s actions does not mean Jeremy supports Clinton, any more than my pleasure at Trump shutting out the ‘Hildabeast’ means I support Trump.
You can support Trump if you wish, but don’t paint those of us who oppose ‘it’ as Clinton supporters, or dupes.
I suspect Jeremy and I both know a lot more about what is going on in the world than you do.

You maybe do, but what would’ve been wrong with: ” Thanks Mr President for stepping up to the task of preventing a melt-down of terror in the Middle East when members of her own party leaked Mrs Clinton’s team’s ruthlessness, but don’t you think a blanket ban on Muslims travelling from certain countries might a little ridiculous.”

What’s with signing a petition against a man who’s got the balls to halt the stupidest policy on earth, arming Islamic terrorists. It was cheap, stupid and counter-productive to keep focussed on the issues of human rights when Donald Trump is dealing with a policy of making 25 million decent innocent people homeless in 5 years in the Middle East.

Crawl back into your Hovis ad and don’t come out until Etonian Boris Johnson and Tory whip May have been sorted out by their own party as well.

Never do what a leader of the opposition is supposed to do, oppose the government. Because your own party is full of evil Blairite neo-cons who want to arm Islamic terrorists, same as it is full of evil Brownites who did nothing as Chancellor of the Exchequer to sort out banking de-regulation and want to privatise the NHS.

France is indeed in uproar, and we know this through the lack of reporting same in the media – the conspiracy of silence is incredible, given that anyone can get online and publish the truth should they be so inclined.

So if I have this entirely straight… there are disasters and uproar in France almost continuously, only we never hear of them, nor do we see any evidence for it even if we travel there. Except of course for the disasters which are widely reported on say in Paris or Nice, because they’re all faked-up “False-Flag” operations.

Rob I am not bored what is happening to France.
I know the Hapless Hollande is withdrawing himself from the crazy scene, he is already, yesterday’s man, even while in office.
My prediction is that there will be a woman in charge, this year.

” I am not advocating the ban or extending the ban, but it is also worth pointing out that nearly all the recent Islamic terrorist activities against Western, including Turkish, targets were carried out by people from either Tunisia or Central Asia.”

The irony of the genetically modified Americans not wanting to be polluted by the purity of the Muslims!
The UK recognised long ago that the UK’s degraded social fabric was no longer able to produce enough kids and we needed to import 2 million Asian Muslims, 5 million Polish Catholics etc

Mrs May is probably sleeping off a thumping migraine from having to advocate a Brexit policy completely opposite to her business Tory core voters, rather than any pollution from Trump.

I love this picture of Foreign Secretary Screwloose Johnson who has been forced to U turn his policy on Syria (as Craig so rightly comments in his recent talk) between statements to the House on the fall of Aleppo and last week’s inauguration of Trump. Much grinding of steel on steel as he completes this manoeuvre in his head:

Terrorists have been lured to fight for US hegemanical ambitions in the Middle East with promises of Green cards and EU passports/visas. Trump is perfectly within his rights to send a message to them that a new regime is in place. We elect politicians to act in our best interests. like belonging to the EU, aka Burke etc. People have to put up with the irritating personal consequences of our elected leaders’ dictates.

yes Bevin, a particularly dangerous child who’s death can only add to the security of the US.
It has also cost Turnip his first loss of a well trained and expensively kitted out marine who wanted to die to keep America safe again, it must have been a hotbed for terrorism over the last ten years that these steps are necessary.

Moreover, could it possibly be the economy thats behind this mad rush to curtail peoples access and stifling investment, can’t the elites and rich make enough money anymore, do they need tensions and more wars?

“Those countries are not included either. So plainly the ban or freeze is not really intended to do what it says on the tin. ”

I am guessing (and if it helps, hoping) that Trump and his corporate team have a change management agenda right up there. I suggest you read up the parable of the Boiling Frog:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog

We may not be able to change or evolve Islam, but we can change. Indeed the West MUST change. Don’t forget that Trump has also said that in America First, his agenda is going to be jobs, Jobs, Jobs (and not War, War, War a la Bush, Obama and the Bitch Clinton). Trump is certainly not going to bow to the Devil that is the King of Saudi Arabia. He’ll be reading them the Riot Act, at least in private.

Exxon’s interests I’m guessing in Saudi are near to fuck-all. So fuck them and their lackey Pakistan, the Land of (the) Pure Bull-shit. I’m sure that these countries are already subject to extreme vetting.

Pakistan is conducting joint military exercises with Putin, and Putin is admired by Trump. America has been whoring after false gods for so long we forget. But Trump will make an honest woman of her yet.

“On Tuesday, over 40 soldiers from the two countries took part in a mountain training exercise. Carrying equipment weighing around 15kg, representatives from the Southern Military District’s mountain infantry brigade based in Karachay-Cherkessiya demonstrated how to make a safety mechanism using a station knot.

Their Pakistani colleagues returned the favor, showing them another safety mechanism using a special rope with three knots. Both systems would come in useful under extreme circumstances, where access to resources is limited. ”

The Israeli-Saudi narrative, which is repeated endlessly inside Official Washington, is that Iran is the principal sponsor of terrorism when that dubious honor clearly falls to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Sunni-led Muslim states, including Pakistan, nations that did not make Trump’s list.

Israel demands that Washington share its hatred of the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, a Shiite force that organized in the 1980s to drive the invading Israeli army out of southern Lebanon. Because Hezbollah dealt a rare defeat to the Israeli Defense Force, Israel puts it at the top of “terrorist” organizations. And, Hezbollah is supported by Iran.

Saudi Arabia, too, hates Iran because the Sunni-fundamentalist Saudi monarchy considers Shia Islam heretical, a sectarian conflict that dates back to the Seventh Century. So, the Saudi government has viewed Sunni jihadists as the tip of the spear against these Shiite rivals.

Thanks for one of your many links here mauisurfer, may your board stay up long in the tumultuous waves that batter this blog and the world.
The agenda which Wesley Clark pointed out in 2002/3 is still intact, the nuclear bomb scenario, even after handing Iran a blueprint in the late 1980’s, failed dramatically, but still, the only supremacists in the ME are pushing for war with Iran.
Iran has not started any wars for 250 years, compare that to the rogue state and its backers who can’t live in sustainable communities without exploiting the resources of others for their own gains, who can’t live sustainably without making money from arms and devastation. Iran is not an aggressor, the real backers of terrorist violence, extreme justice, and suppression of democracy world wide is Saudi Arabia, allegedly, a kingdom that cuts off the heads of those that demonstrate for a better quality of life and human rights.

So, it turns out the countries on the ban list were taken from Obama’s terror list. Within a few hours, journalists were accusing Trump of having business interests in countries not on the ban list. I wonder if they will now retract?

Lolz. They never retract. It’s less that I like Trump’s policies – banning is generally a bad strategy – and more that I enjoy the absurd idiocy of the corporate media when they slate everything he does. Bunch of corrupt CIA morons the lot of them.

I agree the ban, even if implemented, makes little operational sense in the defeat of IS, but that’s not its aim. The aim is for it to assist in the political campaign to defeat IS. And it seems keeping to Obamas paperwork is a good way of showing up the double standards of his critics.

As you say the actual threat from IS in the West is tiny, but the popularised threat from IS by its neo-con handlers is high. So it would be very problematic for Trump to pretend there is no threat, due to it all being an inside job, so he has to go through the appearances of defeating it, which will be easy once CIA stops promoting it.

But the difference between Trump “anti-IS” and neo-con “anti-IS” is he is using the threat to cooperate and make peace with Russia, whereas the neo-cons wanted to use the threat to start WWIII with Russia.

I imagine that Russia is very well aware of Islamists.
Russia is cooperating with Iran / Iraq / Syria and will also cooperate with Lebanon, although this is being kept quieter for the moment, probably so as not to SPOOK the Israelis / U.S.A.

So Russia is playing nice with Shia.
Russia is going to construct a Hydrocarbon hub in the Caspian sea, this will connect Russia, and states of the former U.S.S.R. as well as Iran, for onward transport, through Iraq into Syria.
This might link up with the Golden Triangle of hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean, which currently includes Israel, Cyprus, Crete, then Greece and the rest of Europe.
If the Russians can’t hook into the Golden Triangle, they can always go back to a former plan and pipe it via Turkey.

However you will note Russia is not wanting / needing Kuwait /Qatar/ U.A.E. Bahrain / Saudi Arabia.
Part of the Syrian “civil” war was about Assad, not letting the Saudis and mates construct hydrocarbon pipelines through Syria.

All the arms supplied by Qatar ended up at Esenboga airport, near Ankara. Their origin was typically Bulgaria and other NATO bastions in the Balkans. However, the arms weren’t flown directly from source to Ankara. They were all flown to al Abaid airbase. This happens to be USAF mission control in the Middle East. Damn sneaky of those Qataris to launder their weapon shipments by transhipping through el Abaid, without the knowledge and approval of the USAF. /sarc.

More and more wealthy Silicon Valley millionaires and billionaires are fleeing from an impending apocalypse in their country, they are not quiet sure of the form this will take, but a civil war, real or clandestine, seems very likely.

Whether its a St. Andreas fault earthquake of size, an uprising by those who feel under attack from right wing redneck’s or a possible nuclear scenario, they are scared witless and are desperate to buy land in New Zealand, find a bolt hole far away from the Californian dream that enriched them and landed us with a flood of hard to recycle gizmo’s that litter the earth and confuses our minds.

On the contrary, Dave Price : my view is that neither was/is a Manchurian candidate and that to claim that either was/is is very, very silly.

You will note that I say “claim” rather than “believe”.

That is because I both claim and believe that those who are peddling the Manchurian candidate idea don’t believe it themselves. They are merely being mischievious and trying to attract attention to themselves.

I have not made a study of the subject. I merely point out that if you sincerely believe that those you have in mind are merely being mischievous and trying to attract attention, the rational approach would be to maintain a dignified silence on the matter lest you induce them to comment again.

“Trump has certainly startled the Establishment by the extremely unusual expedient of attempting swiftly to carry out his campaign promises. I was among the many who hoped he would forget some of the crazier ones. Apparently not. ”

I was thinking the same, at the same time Obama did something similar, and that was accepted by the whole world. Why is it wrong now according to these MSM pundits? Its a doublestandard.

Also the events in Canada kind of give Trump right. The issue should be to stop extremism itself, one thing is to end the stupid interventions by western states in the MENA area that was so popular under Obama and Bush. Hopefully Trump will refuse more such catastrophic wars.

In the Great Game opposing further Israeli settlements on the West Bank is the way to extend war for wars sake in the Middle East. So by allowing the UN censure vote Obama’s was in fact trying to thwart a peace settlement! This is because the two state solution is dead and has been dead for a long time, so serving peace, due to facts on the ground, requires a one state solution. But whilst the pretence of a two state solution persists, Israel will continue to expand settlements and disposes the Palestinians to accomplish its national conquest of the Holy Land and as a consequence continue to promote war amongst their neighbours.

But if a one state solution is promoted from US/outside, then it becomes a premature victory for “Israel” that delivers victory to “Palestine”. This is because before they can expel all the Palestinians, a one state solution will give Palestinians full rights and enable them to oppose their expulsion as equal citizens through the ballot box with international guarantees that even the US Israel lobby will find hard to sabotage.

I.e. Ironically the two state solution dispossesses the Palestinians, whereas a one state solution with international guarantees could be their salvation.

Hours of waffle from Johnson today, aided by set pieces from the Tory stooges.

4.19 pm
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson)

With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on the implications for this country of the recent changes in US immigration policy.

In view of the understandable concern and uncertainty, it may be helpful if I describe for the House the consequences for British citizens and dual nationals of the Executive order issued last Friday. Let me begin by saying that it is not UK policy—this is not our policy—nor is it a measure that this Government would consider. I have already made clear our anxiety about measures that discriminate on grounds of nationality in ways that are divisive and wrong.

On 27 January, President Trump issued an Executive order banning citizens of seven countries from entering the US for a period of 90 days. Those countries are Syria, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and Sudan. The order makes it clear that no US visas will be issued to citizens of those states and that anyone who already has a visa will be denied entry. The immigration policy of the United States is of course a matter for the Government of the United States, but on the face of it this Executive order has consequences for some British citizens. For that reason, I spoke yesterday to the US Administration and my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has today spoken to General Kelly, the Secretary of Homeland Security. I am able to provide the following clarification: the general principle is that all British passport holders remain welcome to travel to the US. We have received assurances from the US embassy that the Executive order will make no difference to any British passport holder, irrespective of their country of birth or whether they hold another passport. In any case, the Executive order is a temporary measure that is intended to last for 90 days until the US system has added new security precautions. This is of course a highly controversial policy that has caused unease and I repeat that it is not an approach that this Government would take.

Let me conclude by reminding the House of the vital importance of this country’s alliance with the United States, which I am sure Opposition Members appreciate. On defence, intelligence and security, we work together more closely than any other two countries in the world. That relationship is overwhelmingly to our benefit. The Prime Minister’s highly successful visit to the White House last week underlined the strength of that transatlantic alliance. Where we have differences with the Unites States, we will not quail from expressing them, as I have done today—[Interruption.]

Mr Speaker
Order. Let me just say to the House that it is obvious that there is huge interest in this matter, which colleagues can rely upon me to accommodate. I understand the strength of feeling, but the Foreign Secretary’s statement, and his upcoming answers to questions, must be heard.

Boris Johnson
Where we have differences with the US, we will not hesitate to express them, as I have done today—if Opposition Members were listening—as the Prime Minister did yesterday, and as she did in her excellent speech in Philadelphia last week. We also repeat our resolve to work alongside the Trump Administration in the mutual interest of both our countries. I commend this statement to the House.

Actually, Trump’s executive order doesn’t even name the seven countries. The critical language is in section 3(c) of the executive order:

“To temporarily reduce investigative burdens on relevant agencies during the review period described in subsection (a) of this section, to ensure the proper review and maximum utilization of available resources for the screening of foreign nationals, and to ensure that adequate standards are established to prevent infiltration by foreign terrorists or criminals, pursuant to section 212(f) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1182(f), I hereby proclaim that the immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens from countries referred to in section 217(a)(12) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1187(a)(12), would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and I hereby suspend entry into the United States, as immigrants and nonimmigrants, of such persons for 90 days from the date of this order (excluding those foreign nationals traveling on diplomatic visas, North Atlantic Treaty Organization visas, C-2 visas for travel to the United Nations, and G-1, G-2, G-3, and G-4 visas).

So the seven countries are those singled out for special treatment by section 217(a)(12) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act, as amended in 2009 by the Travel Promotion Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-145, which, as it happens, was passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by President Obama.

Kevin Lewis, spokesman for Obama in his post-presidency, told the Politico website: “American values are at stake.”
He added that Mr Obama “is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country.”
“Citizens exercising their Constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake,” he added. Speaking indirectly about the travel ban, he told the website: “With regard to comparisons to President Obama’s foreign policy decisions, as we’ve heard before, the president fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion.”

____

Bibi follows Theresa on the path to the White House. Sick bags at the ready for that episode.

‘President Donald Trump will welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United States next month.’

I can’t see what’s wrong with The Donald’s choice.
Officials either follow the governments wishes or become unemployed.
You can’t have a state within a state.
He is correct to drain the swamp, quickly.

In a memo to Department of Justice staff, Sally Yates — a career government lawyer promoted by Barack Obama —
expressed doubts about the legality and morality of Trump’s decree, which has prompted mass protests.

“For as long as I am the acting attorney general, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the executive order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so.”

She has now cleaned out her desk, has left the building
and will no doubt be looking for other employment but not with the government.
Good riddance.

Yates in her memo said that, although the Office of Legal Counsel within the Department of Justice had approved the executive order, she had an obligation to consider other things that an OLC review could not address, including ” statements made by an administration or its surrogates close in time to the issuance of an Executive Order that may bear on the order’s purpose.” She was referring to Trump’s repeated statements that he would favor Middle East Christians and Giuliani’s admission that Trump had assigned him the task of making a Muslim ban consistent with the law.

Certainly those statements strongly suggest that there was a religious discrimination intent behind the executive order. But that should have been left up to a court to decide, since the order on its face is legal and the OLC had so held. As long as there was a reasonable case to be made for the legality of the order (and it remains entirely possible that the courts will uphold it), it was the duty of the Department of Justice — and of the acting Attorney General — to so argue in court. If Yates did not think she could responsibly do so, it was her obligation to resign.

Is it possible that this whole immigration thing is actually a smokescreen for other executive memoranda that were released at roughly the same time, with particular reference to the increasing importance of Steve Bannon within the inner circle of the administration: –

After the “civil” war in Aleppo, was brought to an end.
The “moderates” were mostly bussed out to Idlib Province, which is between Aleppo and Hatay Province.

The U.S.A. coalition has struck the headquarters of the Syrian Red Crescent and injured its staff in Syria’s Idlib, President of Turkish Red Crescent Kerem Kinik said, calling the alleged drone strike a “hideous war crime.”
Russia Today

US-led coalition aircraft were responsible for the air strikes which destroyed the Red Crescent’s headquarters in Syria’s Idlib, in what was a violation of international humanitarian law, President of Turkish Red Crescent Kerem Kinik said on Wednesday.https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201702011050248775-turkey-red-crescent-idlib-attack/
Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting the Syrian opposition and terrorist groups. The Idlib province is still predominantly in the hands of Jabhat Fatah al Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front, outlawed in Russia.
Idlib Province, is just over the border from Hatay Province.
The Free Syria Army was started by Turks in Hatay Province, then moved into Idlib Province.
Then an alternate government for Syria, was set up in Idlib Province.
This is a part of Syria under very strong Turkish influence, it is where the Turks shot down the Russian jet.

So has the American stance on Turkey / Syria
changed since Donald Trump took over the running of the U.S.A.

Turkey is intensely interested in this part of Syria.
It has already stolen Hatay Province and would like to steal all of north West Syria.
Both the U.S.A. and Turkey are in NATO.
Syria and Russia are not in NATO

The Americans seem to be bombing Idlid Province rather a lot.

Were the Americans behind the Coup in Turkey?
Are the Americans trying to curb the adventures of Erdogan?

The clash reported today between Trump and Australia’s Turnbull is bizarre.

I have to say I am bemused that Obama agreed to take the asylum seekers involved from Australia’s “processing centre”. Australia’s record on how it treats asylum seekers and non-white immigrants in general is absolutely deplorable. It’s probably now the most racist country on the planet.

This fanatic must not be allowed anywhere near nuclear weapons or indeed any weapons. Trump wants him on the NSC. Anyone who does not see this and much else Trump has promised to do/has tried to do in the few days he’s been in office, as extremely dangerous might be compared with an ostrich.

Well, if the internet is to be believed, it appears that certain figures on both sides may soon have other matters to worry about, other than immigration laws. I’ll believe it when I see it, of course, but the internet is full of rumours, since Sessions was nominated as AG. Certain warrants are allegedly about to be signed. Watch out for politicians having accidents, some time soon.

Or of course, this could all just be more distraction and bullshit, to keep the proles occupied. I begin to think I know nothing much about anything in the US, which is so corrupt and bizarre as to entirely escape logic and full understanding.

As to the immigration stuff, Trump could use the war powers act. He will certainly appeal to the Supreme Court, and at some point will get his way. I’m not especially sold on the ban, though I’ve no real problem with vetting people. I’m an immigrant, and had to do all sorts of police checks, and references and stuff, which was a pain, but didn’t really bother me. Harder to do with refugees of course, but vetting of some sort is done the world over.